Rabbi Shneur
Kesselman leads
a public menorah
lighting in Malmo.
la*
Chabad emissary from Oak Park nurtures Jews
in Malmo, Sweden — a hotbed of anti-Semitism.
Jackie Headapohl
I Managing Editor
S
ince moving to Malmo, Sweden,
eight years ago, Rabbi Shneur
Kesselman, a Chabad envoy
raised in Oak Park and educated at
Lubavitch Cheder & Yeshiva-International
School for Chabad Leadership, has been
a frequent target of anti-Semitism. He
moved there with wife, Reizel, who shared
the goal of dedicating their lives to that
small Jewish community of around 1,500
people.
"A friend of mine knew Chabad was
looking to bring a rabbi to Malmo as the
community rabbi was leaving and they
needed someone Kesselman says. At that
time, Sweden had no special reputation of
anti-Semitism. I wasn't at all prepared for
the reality It wasn't the image of Sweden I
had in mind:'
All told, Kesselman has experienced
more than 100 incidents since he arrived
in the country.
He told the Jerusalem Post that once a
car began backing toward him and his wife
as they were crossing the street, and they
were forced to run. Another time, he had
to run in fear for his life from an aggres-
sive driver who was pursuing him through
the streets of Malmo.
Kesselman is the oldest of 16 children
and son of a Chabad shaliach (emissary)
who works for the Lubavitch Foundation.
As long as I remember, I wanted to be a
rabbi:' he says.
In 1997, after graduating the high
school and yeshivah in Detroit, he moved
to Miami to study, and then to Houston as
an exchange rabbinic student.
After his rabbinic studies, he met and
married his wife, a French Jew. The couple
then moved to Brooklyn to contemplate
their future. That's when the opportunity
came up to go to Malmo.
Welcome To Malmo
Prior to Kesselman's arrival, there were
not as many reported incidents of anti-
Semitism in Malmo. In general, the Jews
there are relatively secular. Most have been
assimilated into the Swedish culture.
Then Kesselman came. "I wear a kippah,
the beard:' he says. "You can see I'm a Jew
from a mile away:'
Kesselman says he had experienced anti-
Semitic incidences back in Detroit, "but
they were few and sporadic:' he says. "Then
came the first incident, and the second, the
third and the fourth. It can happen at any
place and at any time. There is nowhere
here to walk calmly and feel at home:'
In general, Sweden is a secular, social-
istic country, Kesselman says. Within the
past few years, however, there has been a
rise of the extreme right in the political
arena as well as an increased anti-Israel
sentiment in the media, which all too
often holds a one-sided view on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Anti-Semitic hate crimes are on the rise
in Sweden, the consequence of increased
immigration from the Muslim world. In
Malmo, things began to take a turn for
the worse in 2009, when Israel's war with
Hamas in Gaza sparked anti-Israel and
anti-Semitic demonstrations in the city.
"Police were unable to protect the Jews:'
Kesselman recalls. "People — Holocaust
survivors — were fleeing for their lives:'
There were no reports of Jewish attacks
on Muslims.
Some 50-100 anti-Semitic incidents
occur in Malmo annually, from verbal
attacks to violent assaults, according to
police and community statistics. Many
of the perpetrators are first- and second-
generation Muslim immigrants, who make
up to 20-25 percent of Malmo's population
of 300,000.
A large percentage of people in Malmo's
small Jewish community are children and
grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, who
were welcomed to Sweden after World
War II. "That's the only reason there is
an active Jewish community in Malmo
and that Jewish life has survived here
Kesselman says. More Jews later arrived
from Poland in the 1960s and a small con-
tingent from Russia in the 1990s.
The Jewish community also has big
issues with Malmo's longtime mayor
Ilmar Reepalu, who is outspokenly anti-
Israel. He once said that attacks on Jews
in Malmo were not very serious and that
"the city of Malmo cannot discriminate in
favor of one of its minorities:' His rhetoric
put the media on alert, and that's when
anti-Semitism turned into a major politi-
cal discussion.
"It was still there before 2009:'
Kesselman says. He was experiencing it
and reporting it to police, but, in general,
keeping it to himself. "After 2009, it just
came to the surface in a new way:'
Malmo's mayor started a dialogue forum
that was supposed to improve things.
"But it doesn't have any teeth; it doesn't
do anything to help the burning issues:'
says Kesselman, who adds that the mayor
announced he will be stepping down this
summer.
The Biggest Challenge
If you ask Kesselman what the biggest
challenge is facing Malmo's Jews, his
answer is not anti-Semitism, although not
much has changed in the city. Instead, he
says, it is more existential.
"In past years, young people and young
families have been leaving and not coming
back:' he says. "They don't want to raise
their families here. It is very sad. It's a
threat to the future of Jewish life here:'
Fredrik Sieradzki of the Jewish commu-
nity of Malmo told Die Presse, an Austrian
Internet publication, that approximately
30 Jewish families have emigrated from
Malmo to Israel in the past year, estimat-
ing that the already-small Jewish popula-
tion is shrinking by 5 percent a year.
"If Swedish Jewry were strong, the
anti-Semitism wouldn't be as hard to
deal with:' Kesselman says, adding that
the majority of Jews in Malmo do not
experience hate crimes on a day-to-day
basis. "The difficulty is that so much of
the Jewish population in unaffiliated.
Intermarriage is common. There's a great
need to activate the people, to ignite them
and pull them together to create a sense of
belonging:'
And those Jews who do become more
involved and want to lead a more Jewish
way of life won't stay in Malmo. "There
isn't enough to offer:' Kesselman says.
"There are no Jewish schools, no kosher
restaurants. Most people will move:'
Still, Jewish awareness and community
participation are evident in the city. Purim
parties and Shavuot celebrations have
attracted hundreds of Jews. Security is
always an issue, though. Guards are always
on hand to ensure the crowd's safety. The
annual Chanukah menorah lighting in the
Malmo town square drew 500 people, a
public display that sent a powerful message.
The Hate Continues
Last June, anti-Semitic graffiti was spray-
painted on the external wall of the old
Jewish cemetery in Malmo. The graffiti
read "A PIG" (en gris in Swedish) next to
a swastika. Last September, an explosion
occurred at the Malmo Jewish community
building. No one was injured, but damage
was caused to the building.
In November 2012, the ADL reports,
two Jewish women in Malmo were robbed.
A menorah, mezuzah and prayer book
were stolen from their apartment, and
their front door and balcony were painted
with swastikas. The women told police
they regularly encounter anti-Semitism in
the city, being frequently called "Jewish
whores" and "Jewish pigs:'
Despite the violence and the harass-
ment, Kesselman continues to minister to
the Jews of Malmo at births, bar mitzvahs,
funerals — he's presided over 200 since he
arrived. "I'm the only rabbi in town:' he
says. "And I've been able to touch the lives
of so many families:'
He, his wife and their four children have
no intention of leaving. "We were looking
for a community to give to:' he says, "and
here it is. We are here for the Jewish popu-
lation. As long as there are Jews in Malmo,
we are here to stay."
❑
JN
April 25 • 2013
49